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A research project proposal submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of B.Sc. Computer Science
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Machakos University Online Voting Module

Apr 13, 2017

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Page 1: Machakos University Online Voting Module

DECLARATION

A research project proposal submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements of the degree of B.Sc. Computer Science

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DECLARATION

This is to certify that the work being presented in the project entitled “An Online Module for SAMUC

elections in Machakos University Collge” submitted by undersigned student of Third Year BSC in

COMPUTER SCIENCE in partial fulfillment for award of degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer

Science is a record of my own work carried out by me under guidance and supervision of MrOmuya

Erick of the Department of Computing and Information Technology and that this work has not been

submitted elsewhere for award of any other degree.

Name: CHOLO ARNOLD EUGINE

Registration Number: J17/0054/2012

Sign: Date:

Declaration by the Supervisor

This Project has been submitted for examination with my approval as university supervisor.

Name……………………………………….. Date…………………………

Sign………………………………………….

Department of Computing and Information Technology.

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DEDICATION

All the work done in coming up with this system is dedicated to my family for being with/part of me in

the whole process, to my beloved Lecturer Mr. Erick Omuya especially for guiding me through the

whole process, my fellow colleagues at Machakos University who evaluated the prototypes of the

Machakos University online voting System and finally to the entire Machakos University administration

for proving free internet access for me to do my research effectively .

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The satisfaction that accompanies that the successful completion of any task would be incomplete

without the mention of people whose ceaseless cooperation made it possible, whose constant

guidance and encouragement crown all efforts with success.

I am very grateful to my project supervisor Mr. Omuya for the guidance, inspiration and constructive

suggestions that helped me in the preparation of this project. I won’t forget to also mention my course

mates in assisting me with the necessary support to ensure that my project is a success. I also thank my

parents and family at large for their moral and financial support in funding the project to ensure

successful completion of the project.

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ABSTRACT

The word “vote” means to choose from a list, to elect or to determine. The main goal of voting is to

come up with leaders of the people’s choice. Most Universities , MUC not an exception have problems

when it comes to voting. Some of the problems involved include ridging votes during election, insecure

or inaccessible polling chambers, inadequate polling materials and also inexperienced personnel.

This online voting/polling system seeks to address the above issues. It should be noted that with this

system in place, the users, MUC students in this case shall be given ample time during the voting period.

They shall also be trained on how to vote online before the election time.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“ONLINE VOTING SYSTEM” is an online voting technique. In this system people who have

studentship of Machakos University College can give his\her vote online without going to any physical

polling booth or chamber. There is a database which is maintained by the MUC Election Commission in

which all the names of voters with complete information is stored.

In “ONLINE VOTING SYSTEM” a voter can use his\her voting right online without any difficulty.

He\She has to be registered first for him/her to vote. Registration is done online and by the system

administrator for security reasons. The system Administrator registers the voters on a special site of the

system visited by him only by simply filling a registration form to register voter. Students seeking

registration can contact the system administrator to submit their details or just visit the MUC website

then register using SAMUC voting module. After the validity of them being Students at MUC has been

confirmed by the system administrator by comparing their details submitted with those in existing

databases, the student is then registered as a voter.

After registration, the voter is assigned a secret Username and Password with which he/she can use to

log into the system and enjoy services provided by the system such as voting, checking results among

others. If invalid/wrong details are submitted, then the student is not registered to vote.

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION __________________________________________________ 1

1.1 INTRODUCTION. _______________________________________________________________________1

1.2 BACKGROUND ________________________________________________________________________1

1:3 PROBLEM STATEMENT _________________________________________________________________2

1.4 OBJECTIVES. __________________________________________________________________________2

1.5 SCOPE ________________________________________________________________________________2

1.6ASSUMPTIONS/RESEARCH QUESTIONS/GOALS OF THE SYSTEM ________________________________3

1.7MISSION OF THE SYSTEM. _______________________________________________________________4

1.8 SUMMARY ____________________________________________________________________________4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ______________________________________________ 5

2.1 INTRODUCTION________________________________________________________________________5

2.2 BACKGROUND ________________________________________________________________________5

Various operational works proposed in the system are: ____________________________________________5

2.3 ONLINE VOTING CRITICS. _______________________________________________________________6

2.4 CHALLENGES _________________________________________________________________________8

Vulnerability comparisons with other voting systems _____________________________________________8

2.5 CONCLUSIONS _________________________________________________________________________9

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY _______________________________________ 10

3.1INTRODUCTION ______________________________________________________________________ 10

3.2METHODOLOGY ______________________________________________________________________ 10

Diagram of Incremental Prototyping: _______________________________________________________ 10

Advantages of Incremental Prototyping: _____________________________________________________ 11

Disadvantages of Incremental Prototyping: ___________________________________________________ 11

When to use the Incremental model: ________________________________________________________ 11

3.3 CONCEPTUAL DESIGN ________________________________________________________________ 12

3.4 STATE OF ART _______________________________________________________________________ 14

Election commission. ____________________________________________________________________ 14

Verification of the Casted Vote _____________________________________________________________ 18

Displaying results._______________________________________________________________________ 20

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3.5 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES TO BE USED _______________________________________________ 20

HARDWARE _________________________________________________________________________ 21

3.6 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES I INTEND TO USE _______________________________________________ 21

SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING ______________________________________________________________ 21

STRATIFIED SAMPLING _______________________________________________________________ 22

CLUSTER SAMPLING _________________________________________________________________ 23

QUOTA SAMPLING ___________________________________________________________________ 23

PANEL SAMPLING ____________________________________________________________________ 23

3.7 DATA COLLECTION METHODS I WILL USE _______________________________________________ 24

INDIVIDUAL DEPTH INTERVIEW. _______________________________________________________ 24

SURVEY METHOD ____________________________________________________________________ 24

FOCUS GROUPS ______________________________________________________________________ 25

OBSERVATIONS ______________________________________________________________________ 25

DOCUMENT STUDIES _________________________________________________________________ 25

3.8 DATA ANALYSIS _____________________________________________________________________ 26

REFERENCES ___________________________________________________________________________ 30

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION.

Election is the way through which people choose their representatives and express their preferences for

how they will be governed. Naturally, the integrity of the election process is fundamental to the integrity

of democracy itself n many Campuses in Kenya. Again, some campus elections in Kenya usually have

media coverage, especially if something goes wrong. Furthermore, voting system seems to have a

unique combination of security requirements: voters need to be authenticated as well as results need to

be verifiable.

According to http://www.sourcewatch.org/ electronic voting or e-voting refers to both the electronic

means of casting a vote and the electronic means of tabulating votes.This can include punch card

systems, optical scan voting systems, direct-recording electronic and Internet voting or E-voting is an

election system that uses encryption to allow a voter to transmit their secure and secret ballot over the

Internet. www.techtarget.com

However, I will major on an internet mode of electronic voting where the voters will cast their votes

over the internet or online.

1.2 BACKGROUND

Every academic year in Machakos University College one of the most fundamental and critical functions

to the student community takes place where students elect their Leaders. The election of the student’s

leaders is held at September of each academic year in a bid to bring fresh ideas in the running of the

student organization.

The methods of campaign, election and post-election processes have been all the same since the

inception of the student organization. These methods are in every right acceptable but fall short in this

age of information and Technology, in that they are slow, entertain rigging to some degree and not so

friendly to all.

Bearing in mind just but the few reasons outlined above, the need for a more fast and robust

election/voting system was idealized. Thus an E-voting system for the Election of Students’ leaders in

Machakos University College.

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1:3 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The election process currently in Machakos University College is a very cumbersome process. The

current existing election voting System in MUC is conducted manually where the Voter has to Visit to

Booths or designed restricted area to Vote, so there is wastage of Time and leads to delayof counting of

votes and because of the limited voting hours given, many people are left out without voting their

preferred leaders. It therefore leaves a very big margin of people who have not voted and because of that

the leaders deserving some sits tend to lose them.In many a times in Machakos University College

election, majority of students do not vote because of the long queues while voting because the perceived

it as a wastage of time.The Election Voting System also entails that, the voters have to be manually

registered. Also Vote counting has to be done manually by counting the votes cast. All the Information

of the Voter or Candidate is to be filling in manually and a voter must be present in campus to give

his/her Vote during the day of voting.

Because of all these drawbacks, I have come with an idea of developing an Online Module for Students

Association of Machakos University Leaders elections. This module will be simple, attractive and easy

to use. It reduces manual efforts and bulk of information can be handled easily.

1.4 OBJECTIVES.

To develop an internet/online web-based voting system that can be used during the election period to

vote for student leaders.

To come up with a system documentation.

To automate votes computations.

To come up with online voter registration module and online display of election results.

1.5 SCOPE

This system will provide a better way for election in Machakos University, hence I suppose that this

project has a greater scope and is important requirement is to provide a compact, stable system of voting

with a facility to be at home.

A student can Vote from anywhere for his/her preferred candidate. This can be achieved so long as the

student has a valid student registration number.

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Vote count will make easy and fast. The system will be able to calculate the votes once being cast. The

results will be generated online from the commission’s database.

No any Vote will be rejected. There will be no rejected votes but there will be unvoted voters which can

be identified by the system.

1.6ASSUMPTIONS/RESEARCH QUESTIONS/GOALS OF THE SYSTEM

The system will facilitate free and fair elections since the tallying of the votes cannot be tampered with.

The system will facilitate a faster election process since one can vote from anywhere and the real-time

tallying makes it fast to announce the elected leaders.

Since the system removes the geographical limitation factor all students can vote for their leader

regardless of their location.

The election process is made cheaper since printing of ballot papers is eliminated and fewer clerks if any

required.

Cases of double voting are eliminated since the verification process of the system ensures one cannot

vote more than once.

The system Maintains all The Information of all the voters, Candidates, Votes, the people who did not

vote and the people who voted.

It checks Voter have Voted or Not.

You can observe All Information Related to any Voting System Online.

It Increase the Voting Percentage.

Finally it makes Easy Voting by avoiding problems like Security, Booth capturing.

The actual purpose of going for this system is to make the campus voting process to get speed up.

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1.7MISSION OF THE SYSTEM.

Maintaining voter confidence and enhancing the voting experience Internet voting enables election

jurisdictions to deliver official absentee ballots and accurate sample ballots to eligible voters through a

secure and easy-to-use website.

Voters can choose to:

Electronically download and print the voting results at the end of the voting period.

They voters can also view the canvassing voting results online.

The process is easy and convenient – voters can download and print voting information from any web-

enabled device, such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone.

The election results will be made available in the web and any question towards the conducted election

can be sent online.

1.8 SUMMARY

Through changes to the voting system developed previously in the Online Voting Project, most legal

reservations against electronic voting were rebutted. The voting protocol became simpler and faster to

implement, but most significantly now offers better integration of the general public through the use of a

bulletin board. Previously existing technical security flaws were also eliminated. This brings us one step

closer to our objective of making electronic voting feasible at networked polling stations in the short

term and using any terminals without any technical, legal or organization problems in the medium to

long term. We are assuming that online elections in non-parliamentary elections in Germany are now

within the realms of possibility.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This section intends to review the current situation of voting in Machakos University which will assist in

bettering the voting system and reviewing the literature under the themes that I have derived from the

objective of my study and Identification of gaps to be filled.

2.2 BACKGROUND

This is a system that can be used by people to vote in an election. All the user must do is login into the

Voting page and choose his favorable candidates then submit his final ballot. While online voting

system has been an active area of research in recent years, the use of insecure Internet, well documented

cases of incorrect implementations reported recently. These challenges are to be resolved so that public

should cast their vote in secure and convenient way. Proposed online voting system is a voting system

by which any Voter can use his/her voting rights from anywhere in the campus.

This systemcontains:

a) Voter’s information in database.

b) Voter’s Names, Voter ID, year, status, username and password.

c) Voter’s votes in a database.

d) Canvassing report.

e) User (Admin).

f) History-tracks all the user activities and stores in database.

g) Candidates information in database.

Various operational works proposed in the system are:

Recording information of the Voter and candidates into the database.

Checking of information filled by voter.

Discard the false information.

Each information is sent to MUC election commission.

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2.3 ONLINE VOTING CRITICS.

Computer scientists who have done work in, or are interested in, electronic voting all seem to agree on

two things: Internet voting does not meet the requirements for public elections and currently widely-

deployed voting systems need improvement.

Voting on the Internet using every day PC's offers only weak security, but its main disadvantages are in

the areas of anonymity and protection against coercion and/or vote selling. It's such a truly bad idea that

there seems to be no credible academic effort to deploy it at all.

The Presidential elections of 2000 brought national attention to problems with current American

methods of casting and counting votes in public elections. Most people believe that the current system

should be changed; there is much disagreement on how such changes should be made.

The MIT/Caltech researchers see a promising future for electronic voting, despite its problems today.

They advocate using the methods currently in use which result in the lowest average numbers of

uncounted, unmarked, and spoiled ballots, Like in-precinct optical scanning. Their report even proposes

a framework for a new voting system with a decentralized, modular design.

Other researchers have done work in electronic voting; while they may not explicitly mention voting

from remote poll sites, their work is nonetheless relevant to any effort at designing or implementing a

remote poll site voting system. Lorrie Cramer could be classified, like the Caltech/MIT researchers, as a

cautious optimist. She acknowledges the problems inherent in each kind of voting apparatus, but doesn't

make an overt recommendation on her site for one technology over the rest.

Some other academic, like Peter Neumann who moderates the RISKS mailing list, are less optimistic.

They agree mostly with the Caltech/MIT committee, but their papers focus on the immensity of the

problem one faces when trying to design and implement a truly secure voting system. They often remind

us of Ken Thompson's Turing acceptance speech and the fact that we really can't trust any code which

we did not create ourselves.

Therefore, they tend to be extremely suspicious of proprietary voting machines and their makers who

insist that we should just trust them.

Neumann gives a list of suggestions for "generic voting criteria" which suggests that a voting system

should be so hard to tamper with and so resistant to failure that no commercial system is likely to ever

meet the requirements, and developing a suitable custom system would be extremely difficult and

prohibitively expensive.

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Rebecca Mercuri invented the Mercuri method for electronic voting. A critical

Component of this method is very similar to the Caltech/MIT proposal: a voting system must produce

human-readable hardcopy paper results, which can be verified by the voter before the vote is cast, and

manually recounted later if necessary. Her philosophy and Neumann's are very similar; in fact, they've

written papers together on the subject.

David Chaum presents a very interesting scheme, whereby voters could get receipts for their votes. This

receipt would allow them to know if their votes were included in the final tally or not, and to prove that

they voted without revealing any information about how they voted. The security of this scheme

depends on visual cryptography developed by Naor and Shamir, and on voters randomly choosing one

of two pieces of paper Mercuri and Neumann advocate the use of this technique in electronic voting

systems.

Dr. Michael Shamos of CMU provides a sharp counterpoint to Neumann and

Mercuri's views. While his .Six Commandments. Summary of requirements for a voting system is very

similar to others' requirements, he's less afraid of the catastrophic failures and sweeping fraud made

possible by imperfections in electronic voting machines actually occurring in a real election. Shamos is

also much less impressed with paper ballots than are Neumann and Mercuri. He places a great deal of

faith in decentralization to make fraud difficult to commit and easy to detect. Dr. Shamos even likes

DRE machine

“Elections Online has been our election services provider for several years and we have been extremely

satisfied with the speed, quality and costs associated with this service. It is a rare thing to be able to

make a request and have the President of the company personally see to its implementation but David

Simms has been hands on with us from the start of our relationship. I have no hesitation in

recommending Elections Online.”

—Lincoln Mead, IT Director of Utah State Bar

“NABE has conducted its elections through this system for a number of years and the feedback form our

members has been great satisfaction. If any questions arose, David responded immediately. I

recommend using Elections Online.”

—Dana Collier Smith, Past President of National Association of Bar Executives

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2.4 CHALLENGES

Perhaps no development is more worrisome to those who are concerned with election integrity than

online voting. Two major problems seem inherent:

Lack of a tangible record. A paper ballot, for example, is a tangible physical object which can be

indelibly marked. Computer memory, however, can be easily altered leaving no trace of its original

marking.

The possibility of fraud on a monumental scale. A single programmer can insert self-erasing code that

can alter millions of ballots and the outcome of elections.

A host of other problems remain entrenched in the system. These include:

Lack of transparency: Current electronic voting systems do not have publicly reviewable inner

workings (source code). By examining the source code, critics argue, computer scientists could

determine that the program performs the intended task without error. Vendors, however, claim

their source code to be proprietary knowledge and a trade secret.

Insufficient standards, testing and certification: voting system are typically certified to federal

and or state standards that are several years old and older standards often will have gaping flaws.

Implementing new standards has been a slow, cumbersome and costly process. Certification is

done by for-profit laboratories accredited by the National Institute of Standards and Technology,

but chosen and paid by the manufacturers.

Insufficient oversight: Various electronic voting companies were found to have employees who

have previously been convicted of serious crimes, including felonies. A Diebold e-voting

programming director was found to have criminal records for embezzlement, a crime very

similar technically to election fraud.

Vulnerability comparisons with other voting systems

Election fraud may occur and go undetected in systems with indelible ballots, but it is, in principle,

detectable, and flagrantly egregious behavior can usually be limited through the courts and public

pressure. If legal procedures are pursued or if an investigative team is dogged, fraud can be exposed and

justice served. For example, the Miami Herald won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on vote buying and

ballot tampering by the campaign of Xavier Suarez, who had been elected mayor of Miami the previous

November. As a result, Suarez was forced to step down after 111 days in office. With electronic voting

systems, however, fraud may be undetectable, and those who have been declared the losers are left with

no recourse to verify results.

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2.5 CONCLUSIONS

My proposed voting system enables a voter to cast his/her vote through internet without going to voting

booth and additionally registering himself/herself for voting in advance, proxy vote or double voting is

not possible, fast to access, highly secure, easy to maintain all information of voting, highly efficient and

flexible. Hence, by this voting percentage will increase drastically. The using of online voting has the

capability to reduce or remove unwanted human errors. In addition to its reliability, online voting can

handle multiple modalities, and provide better scalability for large elections. Online voting is also an

excellent mechanism that does not require geographical proximity of the voters. For example, soldiers

abroad can participate in elections by voting online.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, we will look at how the prototype for creating discussion groups will be developed as

well as a detailed explanation of the research method that will be used to realize the objectives of the

study.

3.2METHODOLOGY

The methodology I adopted for the system is incremental prototyping. Incremental Prototyping Method

is an engineering methodology which is presented as appropriate to collect progressive contributions of

users and experts of technological solutions that are designed to meet educational challenges. In an

incremental prototyping model, product features are added into each of several prototypes. Typically

development starts with the external features and user interface, and then adds features as prototypes are

developed. Requirements and Architectural Design can be done up front and then each prototype

developed as the project progresses. Customer release doesn't happen until all the planned features have

been added. Multiple development cycles take place here, making the life cycle a “multi-waterfall”

cycle. Cycles are divided up into smaller, more easily managed modules. Each module passes through

the requirements, design, implementation and testing phases. A working version of software is produced

during the first module, so you have working software early on during the software life cycle. Each

subsequent release of the module adds function to the previous release. The process continues till the

complete system is achieved.

Diagram of Incremental Prototyping:

Figure 1. Prototyping Model

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Advantages of Incremental Prototyping:

Generates working software quickly and early during the software life cycle.

This model is more flexible – less costly to change scope and requirements.

It is easier to test and debug during a smaller iteration.

In this model customer can respond to each built.

Lowers initial delivery cost.

Easier to manage risk because risky pieces are identified and handled during it’d iteration.

Disadvantages of Incremental Prototyping:

Needs good planning and design.

Needs a clear and complete definition of the whole system before it can be broken down and built

incrementally.

Total cost is higher than waterfall.

When to use the Incremental model:

This model can be used when the requirements of the complete system are clearly defined and

understood.

Major requirements must be defined; however, some details can evolve with time.

There is a need to get a product to the market early.

A new technology is being used

Resources with needed skill set are not available

There are some high risk features and goals.

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3.3 CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

The conceptual development of the system will be done using use case diagrams and system flowcharts

which are as I have illustrated below.

Figure 2. System Flowchart

Voter Login

Admin Login

Input username

Input password

Input username

Input password

Display invalid

Display invalid

Add new voter

Add new candidate

Add new admin

Delete

View

Register

Proceed to vote

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Figure 3. System Use Case Diagram

Voter Reg

Voting

View results

Manage System

Student

Voter

Candidate

Admin

SYSTEM

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3.4 STATE OF ART

The system comprises of several steps and is accessible from two sides:

(A). Election Commission who is the administrator and

(B). The voter who can register as a voter and login to vote.

Election commission.

The Election Commission or administrator can do the following:

Adding Voter Information

In this system, information of each voter is added according to their Registration number. This

Registration number is unique for each voter and this number is also used to identify the school and

department of the voter. After adding information, a voter is given a password and a username can be

used by the voter for login.

Figure 4: Adding a voter.

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Adding Candidate Information

Candidate information is added according to the position a candidate is seeking to vie for. Party and

candidate profile image are also added with other information in this phase.

Figure 5: Adding Voter information

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Figure 6: Voter and Admin use case

Setting Election Date and Time

In this phase, starting time and ending time of election along with election date are set by the election

administrator. The voting server is configured according to East African time zone. Voters who are not

in campus but current and registered voters can cast their vote according to the local time in Machakos

University during Election Day.

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Start Election

This is an automated phase. During the stipulated date and time, election is started. Voter can cast their

vote within this time period. If anyone wants to cast vote before or after the specific time period, an

error message is shown.

Cast Vote

In this phase, voter has to login first. After logging in with the Username and password, An E-Ballot

paper is created automatically from information stored in candidate database. This ballot paper contains

the candidate name along with their profile picture, party name and a select button to select the

candidate for casting vote. There is also an option to cancel and vote later if the voter is not interested to

cast vote to any of the available candidates.

The screen shows a sample login page.

Figure 7: Login

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The screen shot show sample E-Ballot Paper.

Figure 8: E-Ballot

Verification of the Casted Vote

To validate the correctness of the voting, to assure the voter that the vote has been casted exactly the

manner he/she intends; multiple, independent communication is required. The system will generate

official ballot.

Figure 9: Vote Verification

The system will then ask if the voter wants to proceed to submit the ballot.

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Figure 10: Confirmation

Then it will display the name of the voter and a congratulatory message.

Figure 11: Feedback

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Displaying results.

In the process of voting, the canvassing results can be displayed as shown here.

Figure 12: Results

3.5 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES TO BE USED

The languages which I intend to use in developing Machakos University Online voting systems are PHP,

JavaScript, CSS(CSS3), HTML(and HTML5) and JQuery. I will also use MYSQL database.

HTML is a Hypertext Markup Language used to create and link web pages. A markup language defines

a set of rules that specified how the data is displayed on the browser. The goal of HTML5 is to format

and display data independent of hardware and software platforms.

CSS3- A Cascading Style Sheet language specifies the formatting instructions for the HTML elements.

It separates the styles from the content, which simplifies the maintenance of both the HTML5 contents

and its formatting options. CSS3 provides with different properties, which allow specifying styles for

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HTML5 contents. JavaScript- JavaScript is a scripting language that generates dynamic content in

reaction to user’s action. JavaScript variables store the content, which can be

MYSQL DBMS-it allows combination, extraction, manipulation and organization of data in the voters’

database. It is platform independent and therefore can be implemented and used across several such as

Windows, Linux server and is compatible with various hardware mainframes. It is fast in performance,

stable and provides business value at a low cost

PHP is a popular general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to web development.

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the

world.

Testing is done via WAMPSERVER. WampServer is a Windows web development environment. It

allows you to create web applications with Apache2, PHP and a MySQL database. Alongside,

PhpMyAdmin allows you to manage easily your databases.

Web browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Google chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer

Reporting Tool i.e. through Data Report.

HARDWARE

Desktop or laptop with at least 1.0 GHz Processor speed, At least 40 GB Hard Disk Capacity and 512

RAM and Printer.

Target population

This research targets the students in Machakos University college who are elegible to vote for SAMUC

leaders.

3.6 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES I INTEND TO USE

SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING Relies on arranging the target population according to some ordering scheme and then selecting

elements at regular intervals through that ordered list.

Systematic sampling involves a random start and then proceeds with the selection of every kth

element from then onwards. In this case, k=(population size/sample size).

It is important that the starting point is not automatically the first in the list, but is instead randomly

chosen from within the first to the kth element in the list.

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As described above, systematic sampling is an EPS method, because all elements have the same

probability of selection (in the example given, one in ten). It is not 'simple random sampling' because

different subsets of the same size have different selection probabilities - e.g. the set {4,14,24,...,994}

has a one-in-ten probability of selection, but the set {4,13,24,34,...} has zero probability of selection.

ADVANTAGES:

Sample easy to select

Suitable sampling frame can be identified easily

Sample evenly spread over entire reference population

DISADVANTAGES:

Sample may be biased if hidden periodicity in population coincides with that of selection.

Difficult to assess precision of estimate from one survey.

STRATIFIED SAMPLING

Where population embraces a number of distinct categories, the frame can be organized into separate

"strata." Each stratum is then sampled as an independent sub-population, out of which individual

elements can be randomly selected.

Every unit in a stratum has same chance of being selected.

Using same sampling fraction for all strata ensures proportionate representation in the sample.

Adequate representation of minority subgroups of interest can be ensured by stratification &

varying sampling fraction between strata as required.

Finally, since each stratum is treated as an independent population, different sampling

approaches can be applied to different strata.

Drawbacks to using stratified sampling.

First, sampling frame of entire population has to be prepared separately for each stratum

Second, when examining multiple criteria, stratifying variables may be related to some, but not

to others, further complicating the design, and potentially reducing the utility of the strata.

Finally, in some cases (such as designs with a large number of strata, or those with a specified

minimum sample size per group), stratified sampling can potentially require a larger sample than

would other methods

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CLUSTER SAMPLING

Cluster sampling is an example of 'two-stage sampling' .

First stage a sample of areas is chosen;

Second stage a sample of respondents within those areas is selected.

Population divided into clusters of homogeneous units, usually based on geographical contiguity.

Sampling units are groups rather than individuals.

A sample of such clusters is then selected.

All units from the selected clusters are studied.

Advantages :

Cuts down on the cost of preparing a sampling frame.

This can reduce travel and other administrative costs.

Disadvantages: sampling error is higher for a simple random sample of same size.

Often used to evaluate vaccination coverage in EPI

QUOTA SAMPLING

The population is first segmented into mutually exclusive sub-groups, just as in stratified

sampling.

Then judgment used to select subjects or units from each segment based on a specified

proportion.

For example, an interviewer may be told to sample 200 females and 300 males between the age

of 45 and 60.

It is this second step which makes the technique one of non-probability sampling.

In quota sampling the selection of the sample is non-random.

For example interviewers might be tempted to interview those who look most helpful. The

problem is that these samples may be biased because not everyone gets a chance of selection.

This random element is its greatest weakness and quota versus probability has been a matter of

controversy for many years

PANEL SAMPLING

Method of first selecting a group of participants through a random sampling method and then

asking that group for the same information again several times over a period of time.

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Therefore, each participant is given same survey or interview at two or more time points; each

period of data collection called a "wave".

This sampling methodology often chosen for large scale or nation-wide studies in order to gauge

changes in the population with regard to any number of variables from chronic illness to job

stress to weekly food expenditures.

Panel sampling can also be used to inform researchers about within-person health changes due

to age or help explain changes in continuous dependent variables such as spousal interaction.

There have been several proposed methods of analyzing panel sample data, including growth

curves.

3.7 DATA COLLECTION METHODS I WILL USE

INDIVIDUAL DEPTH INTERVIEW.

Conducted face-to-face with the respondent, with the subject of matter, online voting, being discussed in

depth. Success depends on establishing a relaxed and sympathetic relationship, the ability to probe in

order to clarify and elaborate on interesting responses, without biasing the content of the responses, and

the skill of guiding the discussion back to the interview protocol when digressions are unfruitful, always

pursuing reasons behind the comments and answers.

A focus group discussion is the process of obtaining possible ideas or solutions to a marketing problem

from a group of respondents by discussing it. The emphasis in this method is on the results of group

interaction when focused on a series of topics introduced by a discussion leader.

SURVEY METHOD

I intend to use mail surveys and online surveys. Telephone interviewing has become the dominant

method of obtaining information form large samples. Telephone interviews may be conducted either

from a central location, at prescribed hours under close supervision. Or from the interviewer's home,

unsupervised and in their own hours. Supervisors can double-record interviews by listening on an

extension and can gradually weed out incompetent interviewers. The use of computers provides

researchers with a way to prevent many interviewer errors. Computer-assisted telephone interviewing is

used nowadays.

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Under mail surveys, questionnaires are traditionally mailed to potential study participants, who complete

and return them by mail. This method is cheaper than other survey methods however the response rate is

relatively lower. Online surveys on the other hand involves the use of the internet and the World Wide

Web as communication channels for the administration of surveys. This method can only be

implemented effectively in populations where internet access is high.

The sample sizes of these surveys are very large and most participants are picked at random using

random-digit dialing as well as lists of random addresses for mail surveys.

FOCUS GROUPS

Focus groups combine elements of both interviewing and participant observation. The focus group

session is, indeed, an interview not a discussion group, problem-solving session, or decision-making

group. At the same time, focus groups capitalize on group dynamics. The hallmark of focus groups is the

explicit use of the group interaction to generate data and insights that would be unlikely to emerge

otherwise. The technique inherently allows observation of group dynamics, discussion, and firsthand

insights into the respondents’ behaviors, attitudes and

Language. Focus groups are a gathering of 8 to 12 people who share some characteristics relevant to the

evaluation. Originally used as a market research tool to investigate the appeal of various products, the

focus group technique has been adopted by other fields, such as education, as a tool for data gathering

on a given topic.

OBSERVATIONS

Observational techniques are methods by which an individual or individuals gather firsthand data on

programs, processes, or behaviors being studied. They provide evaluators with an opportunity to collect

data on a wide range of behaviors, to capture a great variety of interactions, and to openly explore the

evaluation topic. By directly observing operations and activities, the evaluator can develop a holistic

perspective, i.e., an understanding of the context within which the project operates. This may be

especially important where it is not the event that is of interest, but rather how that event may fit into, or

be affected by, a sequence of events. Observational approaches also allow the evaluator to learn about

issues the participants or staff may be unaware of or that they are unwilling or unable to discuss candidly

in an interview or focus group.

DOCUMENT STUDIES

Existing records often provide insights into a setting and/or group of people that cannot be observed or

noted in another way. Public records are materials created and kept for the purpose of “attesting to an

event or providing an accounting”. Public records can be collected from outside (external) or within

(internal) the setting in which the evaluation is taking place.

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3.8 DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis is the process of finding the right data to answer your question, understanding the

processes underlying the data, discovering the important patterns in the data, and then communicating

your results to have the biggest possible impact. Have therefore used charts to analyse the data I

collected.

Figure 13: Votes Analysis Bar Chart

Legible to Vote Registered tovote

Voted Valid Votes Spoiled Votes

ANALYSIS OF VOTES IN THE PREVIOUS ELCTION AT MUC

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Figure 14:Votes Percentages out of total eligible students to vote

Figure 15:Votes Percentages out registered votes

100%

64%

51%41%

10%

Elegible to Vote Registered Voted Valid Spoiled

PERCENTAGES OUT OF TOTAL ELEGIBLE STUDENTS TO VOTE

80%

64%

16%

VOTED VALID SPOILED

PERCENTAGES OUT OF REGISTERED VOTES

Elegible

Voters=7821

Registere

voters=5000

Voted=4005

Valid=3205

Spoiled=800

Voted=4005

Valid=3205

Spoiled=80

0

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Figure 14:Votes Cast Percentages

Figure 14:Students Response to the proposed system

80%

20%

PERCENTAGES OUT OF TOTAL VOTES CAST

VALID

SPOILED

Accept the Voting system

Reject the online voting system

92%

8%

Percentages of those accepting and rejecting the online voting system

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2015 2015

Today

week6

May 15Aug 08

15 days Topic Conception5/15 - 5/30

8 days Chapter 1 Documentation5/30 – 6/7

22 days Research on Chapter 26/8 - 6/30

5 days Chapter 2 Documentation6/30- 7/05

24 daysCollection ofData and Research7/06 - 7/30

7 days Chapter 3 Documentation and Presentation

8/01 - 8/08

week2week1 week7 week8 week9 week10 week11week5week4week3

Figure 15: Work plan Gant chart

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REFERENCES

Fetterman, D.M. (1989). Ethnography: Step by Step. Applied Social

Research Methods Series, Vol. 17. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Guba, E.G., and Lincoln, Y.S. (1981). Effective Evaluation. San

Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

http://www.vote.caltech.edu/Reports/index.htm.

http://www.lorrie.cranor.org/pubs/voting.html

http://www.vreceipt.com/article.pdf

http://www.cpsr.org/conferences/cfp93/shamos.html\

Lincoln, Y.S., and Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly

Hills, CA: Sage.

Lorrie Cranor's Voting Papers,. Lorrie Faith Cranor

Patton, M.Q. (1990). Qualitative Evaluation and Research Method,

2nd Ed. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Yin, R.K. (1989). Case Study Research: Design and Method. Newbury

Park, CA: Sage.

www.w3schools.com